Example sentences of "the [noun] could have [vb pp] a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | The writer could have selected a sequence such as His opponent congratulates him on his victory or He is congratulated on his victory by his opponent . |
| 2 | The blow could have split a mountain . |
| 3 | The question for remoteness was whether the defendants could have foreseen a burn , not whether they could have foreseen cancer . |
| 4 | The work of Lifshitz and Khalatnikov was valuable because it showed that the universe could have had a singularity , a big bang , if the general theory of relativity was correct . |
| 5 | It 's doubtful that the on-board DME was in error since there were two on board and the pilots could have suspected a malfunction were the readings substantially different . |
| 6 | Commitment to the war could have become a problem in itself as the chances of victory became remote . |
| 7 | However , the impact could have derailed a locomotive and Mrs Jarvie added : ‘ The consequences in those circumstances could be devastating . ’ |
| 8 | The Government could have scored a few points and won some political friends . |
| 9 | The two human parcels screwed up on the floor could have fared a whole lot worse . |
| 10 | Although the Poles could have exercised a military option in the north just as they had done in Silesia , by this time their involvement in a war against the infant Soviet state , over territories and borders in the eastern provinces , made this a logistical impossibility . |
| 11 | The Soviet debate of the 1920s was the first in history to face the problems of growth in a conscious manner , and they were not merely theoretical discussions since the results could have had a profound effect upon the actual outcome of events . |
| 12 | The police could have adopted a different stratagem but it would have been ‘ more time-consuming and difficult ’ than this ‘ simple procedure ’ . |
| 13 | Anyone selling aluminium step ladders outside the Belfry could have made a fortune because after the first few minutes of the match , newcomers realised they could n't see the action on a flat course , unsympathetic to any onlooker less than six feet in height . |
| 14 | The Smiths could have received a considerable amount of money by this method and , indeed , were offered a number of more lucrative alternatives . |
| 15 | And the victim could have chosen a better place to voice throaty communist sentiments . |